Epidemiological and clinical aspects of Polyomaviridae infections – a literature review

Abstract

Polyomaviridae (PyV) are small, non-enveloped viruses leading after infection to mainly asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic disorders among different vertebrates. Currently 14 PyV are known to affect human health. This literature review aims to summarise accessible knowledge from both epidemiological and clinical studies conducted on healthy and PyV infected human populations, with a focus on studies containing transplantation and oncology issues. The search strategy involved screening four databases and finally 25 studies were selected for this article. The majority of the studies focused on the influence of BKPyV and JCPyV infections on renal graft recipients. Some research also described the prevalence of MCPyV and future oncological treatment. The results revealed that various types of patient fluids and tissues may be useful in PyV detection. Moreover, heterogeneity in available evidence on each PyV is observed. The studies implied possible future directions for PyV studies, including new biomarkers, the examination of risk factors or comparison of the course of the disease and treatment results in various age groups of patients.

Keywords

• viruses
• polyomaviridae
• infections
• transplantation
• kidneys
• heart
• oncology
• epidemiology